Julie Stevenson

HHS Crew Head Coach, and Varsity Girls Coach (1st/2nd Boats)

Under the watchful eye and careful guidance of Julie Stevenson, HHS crew has grown from its inception in the fall of 1997 as a small club sport for girls into the largest varsity sport for boys and girls at the high school. Julie began coaching at HHS in the fall of 1998, and became head coach during crew’s inaugural year as a varsity sport in the spring of 2000. Since then, the program has grown from 35 novice and experienced girls and a few rather battered crew shells, to a boys and girls varsity sport of over 120 student athletes. During Julie’s tenure, the team became full members of the prestigious New England Interscholastic Rowing Association (“NEIRA”) where her crews have become regulars in the grand finals. In 2016, Julie was elected to the NEIRA Committee of Management. Julie was also instrumental in organizing the Friends of Hanover Crew, with a vision of improving the team’s equipment by adding a new boat every year, as well as purchasing launches, motors, oars, cox boxes and safety equipment. The Friends of Hanover Crew also accomplished the much greater task of finding a permanent home and building a boathouse for the HHS crew.

Julie’s own very successful rowing career began in high school where she was a 3-year member of and captained the Brooks School crew. She earned a spot in the Junior National Development Camp and her boat won a gold medal at the nationals. She continued to row at Dartmouth College as a rare, four-year member of the varsity boat. As Dartmouth captain her senior year, she and her boatmates went to the Henley Women’s Regatta in 1994, winning the gold medal. Julie next turned to teaching and coaching, first for two years at the Pomfret School in Connecticut, then at Hanover High School. Her own rowing since college has been temporarily limited by her career, young children and coaching responsibilities, but she plans to get back in the boat and kick everyone’s butt in the near future.

Julie is a founding member of the Friends of Hanover Crew board. In her daytime hours, Julie is the Dean of Students at Hanover High School since 2015.